Tomato Red (Paperback)

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Staff Reviews

Sammy Barlach is a drifter with the words "fuck up" writ large upon him. He basically is a stray dog, blessed with brilliant turns of phrase, cursed with an abnormal degree of self-awareness, always on the lookout for "those that will have" him; in essence, he is trying to find a family. And in finding the Merridews, boy does he ever find one. This novel might offer the most succinct explanation of why those at the bottom can't climb their way up: they are all too busy clobbering each other.

— Spiros

Description

Back in print, an acclaimed crime novel set in the Ozarks.

Praise For…

"The characters in Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red speak the poetry of the trailer park in a world where all wisdom is hard-won. Here there are no trust fund babies plagued by ennui. Woodrell's universe is strictly hard-scrabble, where the only struggle involving identity is the one to keep it concealed. We are better for knowing it." -- Thomas H. Cook, Edgar Award-winning author of The Last Talk with Lola Faye

"Three pages into Tomato Red I got that inexplicable head rush that comes from wondering how I'd never heard of the book or of Daniel Woodrell, and regretting the years I was ignorant of both. Woodrell writes with a poetic, lyrical, breezy style that reminds me of authentic country artists like George Jones or Hank Williams but he somehow does it on the page. He packs an entire world into a short book and leaves you yearning for more. Thank you, Busted Flush Press, for introducing me to Woodrell. Now others won't make the mistake I made." -- C. J. Box, Edgar-winning author of Nowhere to Run

"Reading Tomato Red -- the first Daniel Woodrell novel I came upon -- was a transformative experience. It expanded my sense of the possibilities not only of crime fiction, but of fiction itself -- of language, of storytelling. Time and again, his work just dazzles and humbles me. God bless Busted Flush for these glorious reissues. It's a service to readers everywhere, and a great gift." -- Megan Abbott, award-winning author of Bury Me Deep

"Whenever I'm in need of inspiration, resuscitation -- a big, heaping blast of air -- I read the opening page of Tomato Red. By the end, I'm always grinning: that disbelieving, appreciative, joyful grin you get when you come upon the extraordinary. That writing! It's hard to not move when you read Woodrell; his Ozark rhythms will get you toe-tapping, swaying in your seat. It's impossible, in fact, to read Woodrell discreetly: you'll find sentences, dialogue so funny or brutal or just plain brilliant, you need to share them with someone else. His characters are underdogs, heartbreakers, steal-your-wallet-and-kick-you-on the-way-out scoundrels, but you still want more time with them. With Woodrell, you always want more." -- Gillian Flynn, Edgar Award-nominated author of Sharp Objects and Dark Places

"There are a handful of writers who are known, read and revered by other writers for the brilliant beauty of their words. Some have become better known -- James Lee Burke is an obvious example -- but some haven't yet achieved the wide readership that they deserve. Daniel Woodrell is chief amongst them. He's created his own niche in the mystery world -- 'Ozark Noir' -- and he'll dazzle you with each page. Chandler once wrote his ideal of a private eye and I think it applies to writers as well, certainly to Woodrell: 'He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.' Woodrell is the best at what he does and he can equal the best writing in any other world." -- JB Dickey, Seattle Mystery Bookshop (Seattle, WA)